Media: Epstein used secret storage units across US to hide files Photo

Paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein hid computers, photographs, and other materials from U.S. authorities in secret storage units across the country, according to documents obtained by The Telegraph.

Epstein allegedly paid private detectives to remove equipment from his Florida home, apparently to prevent investigators from finding it.

The documents show Epstein rented at least six storage units across the United States, including facilities near his Palm Beach mansion and Manhattan properties. Items stored included computers from Little Saint James, his private Caribbean island, and other equipment from his residences. At least one unit was leased from 2003, during the period Epstein was part of Florida’s high-profile social set, which included Donald Trump. Credit card records indicate storage payments continued until 2019, the year of his death.

Search warrants reviewed by The Telegraph suggest that U.S. authorities never raided these lockers, raising the possibility that they may still contain evidence relating to Epstein and his associates, including Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Lord Mandelson.

The revelations follow the December release by the U.S. Department of Justice of three million files related to Epstein. These files contributed to Lord Mandelson resigning from the Labour Party and the House of Lords, and led to Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

Epstein also directed staff to move computers and CDs from his private island into hidden storage and instructed that some material be wiped. Emails indicate he paid private detectives to open a New York storage unit on his behalf and that the units were often used to hold photographs and other materials that could pre-date the earliest tranche of DoJ-released emails, which begin around 2009.

Authorities have long suspected Epstein was tipped off about the first police raid on his Florida home in 2005. Michael Reiter, the former Palm Beach police chief, later said “the place had been cleaned up” and certain computer material appeared to be missing.

In January 2015, Janusz Banasiak, house manager at Epstein’s Palm Beach property, wrote that a local unit contained “3 computers” and a screen from Little Saint James. Another staff member said it also held a “box with CDs”.

"Over the weekend I learned that plaintiff’s counsel are looking to get from me the computers and paperwork I took from Jeff’s house prior to the Search Warrant. I have them locked in storage and would like to know what to do with them. They are no longer needed in the criminal case, I assume. Is it possible to give you these items for your review and safekeeping or give it to Darren Indyke [Epstein’s lawyer] or back to Jeff, etc.?” a private investigator wrote in one email from August 2009, while Epstein was in jail. 

Photos taken by staff in 2012 show cluttered storage units containing boxes, computers, and other equipment. Epstein’s accountant Richard Kahn forwarded messages regarding storage of computers and CDs from the Little Saint James island, noting some items could be discarded after being wiped.

Epstein’s properties contained multiple hidden cameras, including ones installed inside Kleenex boxes. While authorities recovered some devices during raids in 2005, 2006, and 2019, they found “no incriminating material” suggesting abuse by anyone other than Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

A recent FBI memo stated: “None of these videos depict the abuse of any victims or provide evidence suggesting anyone other than Epstein and [Ghislaine] Maxwell participated in the abuse of victims.”

While the storage units and cameras suggest Epstein may have collected compromising material on associates, relatively few such items have surfaced publicly. Bridget Phillipson, UK Education Secretary, noted that a judge-led inquiry into Mountbatten-Windsor’s relationship with Epstein remains possible: “We’ll look at any sensible proposals that do come forward. But it’s premature at the moment, because we do have the police doing their work.”

By Sabina Mammadli